2016 Volume 85 Pages 13-24
This study compared Japanese and German research on historical consciousness. Japanese research on historical consciousness has, through studies into three aspects of historical consciousness, derived (1) an incremental model of historical consciousness and (2) a growth model of historical consciousness that alters through the means of historical cognition acquired during history classes. German research on historical consciousness has elucidated the dimensions of historical consciousness from its elements and structured historical consciousness by verifying these dimensions.
These characteristics indicate the differences in relations between historical consciousness and historical cognition as observed in the two countries. In Japan, historical consciousness is defined as a methodological concept of developmental psychology, and it is considered from the perspective of historical cognition. In contrast, in Germany, historical consciousness is defined as a concept of educational aims, and it is used while considering historical cognition. Therefore, it can be deemed that this relational difference has made historical cognition a central category in Japan while historical consciousness fulfills this role in Germany. After historical consciousness became a central category, German history education developed under the key concepts of competence-based learning and constructivism, and the establishment of the concept of educational aims now holds the key to development in research on history education. Similarly, in Japan, the establishment of historical consciousness as the concept of educational aims specific to the history field is essential to the development of research on history education.
